Watch hand pressing tool



J. W. CLARK WATCH HAND PRESSING TOOL Oct. 14, 1952 Filed May 27, 1947 Patented Oct. 14, 1952 WATCH HAND PRESSING TOOL John W. Clark, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application May 27, 1947, Serial No. 750,854

3 Claims.

This invention relates to tools or implements employed by watch repair operators, and is used as an adjunct for-placing or seating the hour and minute hands in operative positions where they areassociated with a sweep second hand which is superimposed on the said hands and mounted on a sweep hand post which are parts of a watch of this character, it being the purpose of the inventor to provide a set or pressure applying instrument by which the hour and minute hands may be pressed into place without jeopardizing or injuring the post of the sweep hand,

which post is fragile and easily distorted.

It is the purpose of the inventor to provide a hand setting device which may be moved with relation to the sweep hand post into position for exerting pressure on the minute and hour hands to seat them in position, the said device having flanges or shoulders for engaging the hands selectively or alternately for pressing them into place.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hand tool or implement, simple in construction and comparatively inexpensive to produce and it has proven efiicient' and satisfactory in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a plan view of a watch in which the instrument is applied for pressing the hands of the watch in place;

Figure 2 illustrates an edge view of the instrument;

Figure 3 illustrates a plan view of the underside thereof;

Figure 4 illustrates an enlarged sectional view of a fragment of the instrument;

Figure 5 illustrates a top plan view of the instrument, the end of the handle being broken away;

Figure 6 illustrates a perspective view of a fragment of the instrument; and

Figure '7 illustrates an enlarged detail view of the under surface of the jaw of the said instrument.

In the drawings, l denotes a handle having a shank 2 terminating in a bifurcated claw or jaw portion, the latter being lowered with respect to the shank with its under face having a curvature gradually blending into the shank zone. :The

furcations 3 and 4 of the bifurcations have the lower zone of their opposing walls as of increased spacing width, thereby providing an intermediate under face 6 of planar type and which extends beyond the closed end of the bifurcation and reaching to the face of the curved lower face of the jaw portion. Such planar face forms the pressing face of the tool, being somewhat narrow at the sides of the bifurcation and is then continuous in width to its vanishing point at the face.

The slot of the bifurcation is tapered inwardly from its outer end, the closed end of the slot being at an intermediate point in the length of the curved zone. Due to the taper, the tool will be operative in connection with hands having the hub zone differing in diameter; the shoulders 5 which are located at the margins of the pressing face within the furcation zone serve to confine and guard the hand hubwhile the device is being manipulated, thus avoiding any lateral movement and assuring that the pressing face will be properly applied to the upper end of the hub of the hand being positioned.

In practice, after the hour hand is placed in position with the usual tweezers, the tool is applied with the pin of the minute hand exposed through the slot, the narrow side portions of this zone (Ba) of the pressing face resting on the hand hub and possibly the portion of the adjacent zone at the slot end. The desired pressure is then applied to properly mount the hub on its pin. The minute hand is then placed in position with the usual tweezers, after which the continuous zone (6b) of the pressing face is applied to the top of the hub to properly attach the minute hand-since there is no pin exposure at such time, the continuous surface of the pressing face can be utilized for applying the pressure. As is apparent, by such practice, the thickness of either hand is immaterial.

As above pointed out, the claw portion of the tool is lowered with respect to the shank of the handle. This is of especial benefit in connection with the particular service of the tool-operations over and in the vicinity of the dial face of the watch, especially when pressing the hour hand which lies close to the face of the dial. At such time, the lower face of the claw lies very close to the dial face, with the hour hand hub underlying the planar face 6, a position which could readily damage the dial face during any careless operation of the tool; this is especially true of the annular series of hour indications and is more vulnerable where the watch dial also includes a second hand which would overlie the dial face if in position, or its pivot pin if the second hand be absent. By lowering the claw zone as described, the liability of damage is reduced, since the tool face which forms the source of the danger is closest to a portion of the dial face in which accidental damage would affect only the appearance of the dial face. In addition, the relatively raised handle affords the workman a clearer vision of the annular indicacation zone as well as of a second hand zone.

I claim:

1. A watch hand pressing tool, wherein the tool in service is removably seated on the top of the hub of the positioned hand and subjected to pressure applied directly downward onto the top of the hand hub to accurately anchor the hand hub to its pin arbor, said tool comprising a handle portion and a jaw portion with the jaw portion lowered relative to the handle portion to form a foot zone having its lower face curved in thedirection of length of such jaw portion, said jaw portion being bifurcated from its free end inward for a portion of its length, the lower zone of the opposing walls of the bifurcation being of increased spacing width to thereby provide a divided pressing face within the bifurcated zone, said pressing face extending beyond the closed end of the bifurcation with the extended portion continuous in width.

2. A tool as in claim 1 characterized in that the pressing face is planar and extends to the face of the curvature of the foot zone.

3. A tool as in claim 1 characterized in that the pressing face is planar with the walls of the furcations and of the pressing face of the bifurcated zone tapering outwardly toward the free end of the tool.

JOHN W. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 223,211 Allen Jan. 6, 1880 1,946,063 Dodge s Feb. 6, 1934 

